This Wedgwood Egyptian Revival ale jug commands attention through its dramatic decoration: a sphinx to either side of a firebird in flight, rendered in the spirit of Greek black figure painting, with carefully placed touches of white enamel that heighten contrast and precision.
The oviform black basalt body serves as the stage for this bold composition, where warm rosso antico figures advance sharply against the matte ground, creating a powerful interplay of silhouette and line.
Produced as a special edition for Woollard and Hattersly of Cambridge, the jug combines archaeological imagination with the disciplined refinement that defines Wedgwood’s mid-nineteenth-century Egyptian Revival work.
The rim and base are finished with rosso antico piping, which visually anchors the composition and reinforces its classical structure.
The form rises from a rounded foot and terminates in a pinched trefoil spout with a loop handle, compact yet substantial in the hand.
The impressed mark beneath reads “Wedgwood” and “The Egyptian Jug Sold Only by Woollard and Hattersly, Cambridge,” confirming both authorship and exclusivity.
Comparable examples are held in the Birmingham Museum of Art, Gift of Dwight and Lucille Beeson, 1982.185, and in the British Museum, 1385-6, titled “The Egyptian Jug.”
Dimensions: 6.5″ tall x 5.5″ deep x 5″ diameter
Condition: Excellent
Decoration: Egyptian Revival sphinxes flanking a firebird in rosso antico with white enamel highlights and rosso antico piping to rim and base
Material: Black basalt stoneware with rosso antico decoration
Style: Egyptian Revival
Origin: England
Date: Circa 1854